Pantheism

Pantheism, - from the Greek pan - "all"; and theos, "God"
- is the doctrine that this material world is no different from God, that
"all (this is) God". The universe,
and all beings in it, are the real manifestation or transformation of God

This was an idea developed by the ancient Greek school of philosophy
known as Stoicism (founded by Zeno of Citium (335-263 B.C.E.), who lectured
from a porch - "stoa" - hence the name of his school). In a curious
presaging of modern quantum physics, the Stoics asserted that the entire
cosmos was made from one element, fire (= energy). God was of the
nature of subtle fire, and the physical fire, from which the rest of the
elements formed, was a condensation of God's being. Thus, the whole
cosmos is the condensation of God, "in whom we live and move and have our
being". (Later, Paul of Tarsus was to take this Stoic saying out
of context and apply it to his Christianity)

Another famous pantheist was the seventeenth century Spanish Jewish-born
philosopher Baruch Spinoza,
who in his Ethics, argued that there is only one reality, one universal
substance, that he called "God",
and that mind and matter (as elaborated in Descartes dualistic
system), which to our consciousness appear distinct and opposed, are only
two of the infinite modes or attributes that this one substance possesses

Interpretation of Reality: Reality is actually
non-other than God, but this is not a harsh external Sky God but a compassionate
and even vulnerable Earth Goddess. The universe is the body of God(dess).
The ultimate reality is love and compassion. All things are interrelated
holistically into a single unity. The polar opposites of mind and
body, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity are reconciled
in the immediate present

Knowledge: The universe is not so much rationally
knowable but accessable to intuiotion. One exists in the present
moment of here now, in a state of love, compassion, peace and centeredness.
Reality is better known through meditation,
chanting, music and dance then through the intellect, although intellectual
knowledge still represents a valid aspect of understanding reality.
The teachings of all the mystics and spiritual teachers are acknowledged
as valid.

Message Board: Cosmotheism"COSMOTHEISM, is a Religion that Positively Asserts that there is a INTERNAL PURPOSE in LIFE and in COSMOS and that there is an Essential Unity, OR CONSCIOUSNESS that Binds ALL Living Beings and ALL of the INORGANIC COSMOS, as ONE. WHAT IS our TRUE HUMAN IDENTITY IS that We Are the Cosmos Made SELF-AWARE or, SELF-CONSCIOUS by EVOLUTION and that Our TRUE HUMAN PURPOSE IS to KNOW and to COMPLETE Ourselves as Conscious Individuals and as a SELF-AWARE Species and thereby to Co-Evolve with the COSMOS TOWARDS UNIVERSAL AWARENESS AND TOWARDS the ever HIGHER PERFECTION OF BEING."